Sarah moved swiftly forward as she sliced through the flying tentacles.
As Rata sacrificed himself, he revealed all the weaknesses of the monster. On the other hand, the opponent knew nothing about her.
If one knew their own limits and their enemy’s, then they had the upper hand.
‘I cannot lose.’
Losing here meant death.
She had crossed the line of death too many times on her way here, and she had always managed to live. It was the same this time.
She couldn’t die.
‘My body still has so many things to do!’
She had no idea what Hiyan meant about her fate being changed, but if her presence here was really to save the World Tree, there was no way she would collapse here.
The tentacles came for her. She quickly moved her small body to avoid them, and she used the blind spots of the monster’s huge body to cut its thigh, side, and forearms.
Because of its large body, the monster couldn’t easily catch Sarah’s movements.
Given its size, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the monster crushed Sarah to death all at once, but Sarah’s quick movements made that impossible.
Kwaaaaah!
The monster was annoyed as it screamed.
‘It can do a maximum of five transformations at once.’
It couldn’t transform more than that, which was why it didn’t transform again.
It wasn’t that it didn’t, but it couldn’t. And Sarah made sure to use that to her advantage.
Even when Rata made a dangerous attack, the monster couldn’t transform its body anymore. Even so, it was quite difficult to fight the monster after five transformations, but since she knew its limits, she could deal with it.
The monster transformed its left leg into a blade.
Swish!
A sharp sound could be heard. At the same time, three tentacles with pointed tips protruded from its back and fell from above her.
‘A total of four times. One more transformation remains.’
Sarah prepared to use Futility Divide. If the fourth transformation was the end, then she could dodge the attack, but the fifth transformation bothered her.
So she decided not to avoid the attack.
Sarah’s eyes flashed with desire. It wasn’t just that. In fact, light shone in her eyes.
Aura began to wrap around her body, and at that moment, her body moved like a beam of light.
Pak!
There was a flash of light, and the monster’s left leg, which had transformed into a blade, fell off.
It didn’t end there. Sarah’s sword swept past the monster, scattering her aura.
Kuaaack!
The monster screamed in pain as it transformed its right hand into a blunt weapon and swung it.
Kwaang!!
Debris scattered in all directions as their weapons clashed, and Sarah leisurely stepped back and removed the aura from her body.
“Huek—”
Then she let out a rough breath. It was only for a short time, but her entire body cramped up as if all of her muscles were stiff.
Sarah frowned.
‘Aura isn’t a power that can be used on a weapon. Aura is a kind of blessing-like ability that strengthens the body in an odd manner. So one has to use aura all over their body and know how to utilize it in fights. That is your first lesson.’
That was what Isis taught Sarah before she left for the Black Tower.
Sarah knew how to move her body with mana and only used aura on her weapon. It was because she still couldn’t use aura all around her body.
It was a power known to be one level higher than mana, so it was very difficult even to hold it in one spot.
It wasn’t for nothing that those who could manipulate aura were called Experts because it wasn’t easy, and those people could do it. But even for them, distributing aura evenly on their moving bodies was difficult to do.
That was why those who could freely do it were called Masters.
Actually, she heard the theory from Beryl, but at that time, she put it off because it was still difficult for her to learn it, and she had to learn it in the correct order. And that was why Isis trained her in earnest.
‘As expected, it is difficult.’
It has just been around three months since she began controlling aura. She could now spread the aura throughout her body, but she still couldn’t maintain it for a long time.
Even that would have surprised others if they saw it, but for Sarah, her pace was slow.
The maximum time she could hold it was around ten minutes. However, as time went on, the quality of her aura would drop.
So she had to fix that somehow.
Grrr…
The monster didn’t attack as recklessly as before, probably because the opponent was stronger than expected.
After restoring its damaged parts to their original state with its transformation ability, it looked at Sarah.
A heavy air settled between them.
In the deafening silence, the two moved without caring who would move first.
‘Phew. She is better at fighting than I thought?’
Her movements have completely changed since she started using aura in earnest. The way she fought while using aura was so beautiful that it reminded him of a dance.
But Rata wasn’t enjoying it.
‘She is still too young to use aura all over her body.’
Her ability to use aura all over her body wasn’t that weak, but when compared to those in the Master class, she was lacking.
Just for a simple reason.
It was because her aura was scattering in the air, which meant that she wasn’t controlling it properly.
Ideally, aura wasn’t supposed to be scattered like that.
‘But at that age, what she is doing is already amazing.’
Rata was shocked at Sarah’s skills. She no longer looked like an ordinary human girl in his eyes.
She now looked like a middle-aged knight with fine skills.
From that point on, depending on her realization, she would either reach the level of Master or stay on that level for the rest of her life.
‘I think I know why Mother sent me here.’
This child needed him.
‘I will not make the same mistake again.’
Rata slowly got up and recalled what had happened.
‘Rata, I do not blame you.’
‘It’s him that’s evil. Do not blame yourself because the time will come one day.’
The final voices of Odin and Thor seemed to be echoing. Rata wanted to close his eyes, but he didn’t. If he were to rate the causes of this world becoming like this now, he would account for more than 30%.
On that day, if he hadn’t been seduced by those words…
‘Ra, this time, things won’t happen your way.’
Ratatosque, the squirrel messenger.
It all happened when the long-standing trust collapsed because of a single act. As a result, Asgard was destroyed, and the Gods lost their lives.
All because of the Sun God.
In the end, he did not even reach death.
‘This is the reward for following my words. Live in this decrepit tree forever. It is the strong’s act of consideration to the weak.’
He was caught in a terrible curse and bound forever into Yggdrasil, the World Tree. It had been such a long time, and it seemed that another opportunity had come.
For his small atonement, he had to somehow bring the child there.
“Now it is your turn to act, you worm.”
It was unknown how far this child could change the fate of this world. Gaia herself probably doesn’t even know. However, the fate of this world had begun to move rapidly toward the possible outcome.
And the outcome of fate would be determined by the choice that Sarah makes.
So, now she needs to get out of here alive.
“She had seen everything about the monster. So she can surely knock it down.”
Sarah had good skills, and if she didn’t succeed, he would move again.
However, that wouldn’t be necessary.
Rata’s lips turned into a smile.
Wooooosh!!
Pow! Pow!
The monster hit Sarah with one fist after another, but it never reached her. Sarah was already fast, and now she strengthened her body with aura.
The monster couldn’t keep up with her speed. It couldn’t even properly react to Sarah’s attacks and was continuously hit.
‘Faster.’
Sarah was currently in a trance. The monster no longer appeared in her eyes. She could only see a bell.
The more she immersed herself, the clearer she could see the sword, the direction she was moving in, and the path she had to follow. It was the feeling of becoming one with the sword.
It felt similar to the lofty realm pursued by swordsmen—the union with the sword, which Sarah hadn’t noticed before.
‘Sharper!’
How to be able to wield the sword better, how to cut gently, how to deal with a strong attack, the optimal route, the best way, the strongest hit—all of those thoughts were in her head.
It was as if a ball of tangled threads were being unraveled one by one.
She didn’t dodge the attacks. There was no need to.
‘Let it be.’
If she avoids them, the damage would be too great.
She was cautious of the space around her.
The Sea of Hundred, the flow of mana, the space that could be used for Futility Divide—recognizing all of that information, she stretched out her sword.
Just like a dance.
Softly, very softly.
“I won’t chase you.”
Swish.
At that moment, Sarah saw a ray of light pouring into the world of trance, and there she was, dancing beautifully.
It was definitely a sword dance. She was moving around with her sword with such graceful movements.
‘What is a sword?’
That was something that her father once asked her.
‘Sarah, if you ever decide to wield the sword, know that our family can cut through space. Even though there are various types, you must be aware that we always cut through space.’
At that time, she didn’t understand what it meant. That was the time when she just held the sword and was much younger than she is now, so she couldn’t understand it. Even now, she still doesn’t fully understand it.
When she learned Futility Divide, she wondered if that was what her father said, but seeing this now, she realized she was wrong.
‘Welton’s sword cuts through space.’
She vaguely understood it.
And then Sarah saw that the head of the monster fell to the ground.
With what?
She couldn’t confirm what she had done, but she instinctively felt it.
“I won.”
The monster’s head fell, and it was Sarah’s sword that did it.
Sarah saw the head of the monster rolling on the ground. And then she saw her sword.
“…”
She said nothing.
It would be better to say that her mouth stopped working.
How did this happen?
The scene of the monster’s head falling off was something she had seen before.
As if she foresaw it.
What happened?
She didn’t feel strange at first since she was completely immersed in it, but the more she thought about it, the more it stuck in her mind.
‘All of my senses were alive.’
Despite being in a trance, her body moved, even though it was a situation where she should have collapsed for using too much aura.
Rata approached her.
“I knew you could win, but what is with that expression?”
Rata was confused at how Sarah was pouting despite winning. Sarah immediately shook her head, wondering if she should talk to him about what had happened.
It was because she didn’t feel compelled to inform the person she was wary of about her condition. Even so, she wasn’t going to continue the hostile relationship they had before.
“It is nothing. I was able to defeat it thanks to you. Thank you.”
“Woah… I really didn’t expect you to thank me. Well, I survived because of you, so you don’t need to say that. Anyway, do you trust me now?”
Sarah smiled.
“My name is Sarah. Sarah Welton.”
It was a completely different answer from his question, but it was enough for Rata. So he also smiled and shouted,
“Fine, Sarah! Let us go! Until the end! Follow me.”
Rata began to run, and Sarah shook her head at his exaggerated actions. Still, the scene of the squirrel running on its own two feet looked so cute.
